L is for Lucky
by HallowRain8587
Summary: With the war looming, the Greengrass family spends a different kind of seventh year away from Hogwarts.


**L is for Lucky**

Round challenge: CHASER 1: The Greengrasses

OPTIONAL PROMPTS: (colour) silver; (scenario) a character wins a large sum of money; (quote) A little drama wins more friends than boring. – Scott Westerfeld

Words: 2956

A/N: The recognizable characters belong to J.K. Rowling, the others are mine. I started to write a different story, but Daphne and my muse wanted their own way so here is her story. Thank you to WritingBlock for researching while I was off the grid.

* * *

On the last day of school in June 1997, Daphne and Astoria Greengrass boarded the Hogwarts Express. The made excited plans with their friends in the Slytherin compartment they occupied.

"Will you be joining me for shopping in Paris in July?" Pansy Parkinson asked and tried to cuddle closer to a sullen Draco Malfoy.

"I really would like to, but Mother says the Ministry is controlling all international portkeys. We may not be able to get one," Astoria replied, glaring at Pansy. She looked at the troubled, silver eyes of Draco and sent a silent message to say she was sorry Pansy was such a pain.

"Father wants me to spend more time with him," Daphne said. She was the Greengrass heir since there were no sons. She had always had a good sense for numbers and excelled in Arithmancy at Hogwarts. In addition to this schooling, she was being tutored in the equivalent of muggle business finance during the summer breaks. Inwardly she was pleased with this arrangement, outwardly she kept her aloof countenance.

Chatter continued with discussions of Quidditch and summer plans with no outward show of the impending changes following the death of Professor Dumbledore. Each Slytherin was schooled in the art of the façade and nobody knew what the other was really thinking.

As the girls alit from the train, they were surprised to see that both of their parents were there to greet them. "We must hurry," Helene Greengrass said hardly allowing the girls time to say their good-byes to their friends.

"Father, it is good to see you," Daphne greeted her father with a hug.

"Come, we must get out of here quickly," was his reply followed by a quick kiss on her cheek.

They moved swiftly to the apparation point where the girls' trunks were shrunk and put into pockets. Helene took Astoria's arm and disapparated. Dexter quickly followed with Daphne on his. They first stopped in an isolated area the girls were unfamiliar with, but then they disapparated again. Twice more they moved before ending in front of a large stone manor house. Daphne looked at her father for guidance, but her mother was already moving the family toward the large red front door. Before Astoria had a chance to ask where they were, a tall man appeared in the doorway.

"Helene, how good to see you," the man, who looked suspiciously like the woman he greeted, said. He drew her in for a hug. Daphne and Astoria were surprised because their mother rarely hugged anyone.

"David, I supposed you got my letter." She smiled and beckoned the girls forward. "This is my brother, David White. David, these are my daughters, Daphne and Astoria. You remember Dexter, don't you?"

"Pleased to meet you, Ladies," he answered. "Nice to see you again, Dexter. Please come in and then we will chat."

The family entered the hall. Dexter removed the trunks from his pocket along with another two from another pocket, then returned them to their original size. Leaving them in the entry hall, he followed his wife, daughters, and their host. All were seated in a large, sunny room and a small house elf was setting out a tea for the travelers.

"Daphne, Astoria, I feel I owe you an explanation," their mother began. "This house belongs to my family and is where my brother lives." She put up a hand to stave off questions for a while. "David is a squib and my parents sent him to live with an aunt and uncle who were also squibs. We do not talk about it in circles where their lives would be in danger, so we never told you. With the way the war is going, your father and I felt it best to remove you from danger. I know it is cowardly, but I call it saving your family. David's wife, Audrey, is out in the garden and will be in shortly. She is a Muggleborn and her family was killed during the first time He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named rose to power. There is little magic used here other than the elves and it keeps the house away from scrutiny by the Ministry. We will remain here as long as necessary to be safe."

Suddenly the French doors to the gardens were opened by a pretty blonde woman with sky-blue eyes. "Twinky said that our guests are here. The children and I will go wash up and join you for tea."

Four boys and two girls aged two to sixteen with hair various shades from lightest blonde to light brown. They all had the clear blue eyes of their mother except the eldest who had the lightest hair. Her eyes were silver-grey and her hair would have put her into the Malfoy clan if they had met her on the street. They followed their mother out of the room and returned shortly, hair combed and hands and faces washed. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent getting to know their cousins.

* * *

"Wake up, Daphne," Elise said and shook the older Greengrass sister's shoulder. "Astoria is already up and dressed. I've put some jeans and a jumper out in case you don't have muggle clothes. We're going to walk to the village to get the post and buy lottery tickets."

"I have a pair of trousers, but I will borrow your jumper. Are Mother and Father up yet?" Daphne yawned.

"Everyone has been up for hours sleepyhead."

"Wait a minute, did you say we were going to the post office? Yesterday your father said that he had received a letter, not an owl, from my mother." Wiping the sleep from her eyes, Daphne said, "Do you not get owls here?"

"No," Elise laughed, "we do not get owl post. That is part of living off the grid, so to speak. We receive our mail the muggle way."

"What is off the grid?"

"It's a muggle term to say that they are living without the usual access to the utilities—electricity, gas, sewer, water mains. For wizards, we do somewhat live off the grid because we don't use electricity for lights and gas for heat. Since this house is semi-unplottable, owls are not able to find someone living here. It is for our safety. However, we are on the electric grid. I'll show you how to use the computer for homework and you can help me with spells so I can pass my N.E.W.T.s with you at the end of next school year. Yes, I'm also a witch, but I've been homeschooled. With my father being a squib and my mother Muggleborn, they felt it would be better if all of us children were taught here," she explained.

"Okay, I'm ready for the day," Daphne exclaimed. She was wearing khaki trousers, paired with a white button shirt and the blue jumper that Elise had given her. "So, tell me what's this lottery we are going to play?"

"It is a pie-in-the-sky dream of everyone without a lot of money to win big," Elise said. "You can play when you are 16 and if you are lucky your numbers will be called. If I win, I will build another building so that we can take in more abandoned children."

"Have you met my parents before?" Daphne asked. "They explained about your father being my mother's older brother."

Elise thought a moment, then decided that she would share a bit more of the story. "Your mother comes every fall after you go off to Hogwarts. She brings all the books needed for us to study here. She stays a week or so, then returns to your home. She comes again around Halloween and just before Yule. She comes after your Easter break as well. Your father only came the last time. I think that she had not told him much about us before. They were concerned about how radical the society has gotten and how unsafe they were feeling. Last month we received a letter that they would like to move here with us for the unforeseeable future. Of course, we would receive your family because you are our family. Last week we were informed of the final details and we set about making room for you. Ana moved in with me and made room for you and Astoria in her room. Your parents are in the guest room, which once was our uncle's and aunt's room. They both were squibs and Aunt Hattie was our great-aunt. This house has been the family secret for generations." They had arrived in the kitchen and were greeted by the stragglers from the morning meal. "Enough seriousness! Astoria, will you be walking into the village with Daphne and me?"

"I thought you would never ask," she replied with a bright smile.

"Don't be gone too long girls," Helene admonished. "Audrey and I will need help with the chores. David and your father have gone to the fields with the older boys. Since we will be staying here we need to contribute something. Remember what they said about keeping the use of magic to a minimum in order to remain away from prying eyes. Have you written your letter to Draco telling him that you will be traveling, Astoria?" She turned to Daphne, "Don't you have a young man? You cannot marry yourself to your father's business even if you are an heir."

"Yes, Mother, I wrote him," Astoria replied. "Elise told me how owls work from here."

"No, Mother, I do not have a young man," Daphne replied. "The only one good enough for me is taken. The work is a much better partner and doesn't make you pregnant."

"Daphne," Helene scolded, "proper young ladies do not talk of such things in company."

"Come on Daph, the day is burning," Elise laughed.

The three girls set off down the dusty road with a small boy following a few paces behind. "Alexander, did you think you were going to follow us without us knowing you were there?" Elise laughed at the six-year-old boy following them down the road. "Come walk with us." The three teenaged girls and the small boy moved on in companionable silence for about half a mile. "Let's go over the shopping list and decide where to go first. The clothing store, the hardware shop, and the post office. Oh, and the grocery. We need to go to the bank and get our lottery tickets. Mother always wants us to do the shopping when we go into the village."

"Yes, Mother said that we need to put some of the muggle money in the bank so that we will have it for later and not have it just lying around. I'm surprised the goblins exchanged so much into pound notes for them. She said we already have an account set up that she used when she came to visit each time," Daphne said.

"Well, she has been helping with the properties since your grandmother died," Elise explained. She said that this house is the White women's legacy. Daphne nodded knowing that the women in the family had several anonymous charities to which they contributed. This obviously was one.

* * *

Returning home later the girls were giggling about the boy at the market who had openly flirted with Elise. Astoria was surprised that the post office had a back room where they had owl service. They had also signed up for the weekly lottery drawings and bought Alexander an ice cream which he had promptly dropped in the dirt. All were now covered with the drips of ice cream that had run down their arms as the cool treat melted faster than they could lick. Daphne, being the cleanest, was carrying most of the shopping bags.

* * *

The days of the summer were idyllic and educational. The girls easily integrated themselves into the day to day work and Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass shared the chores with their hosts. There were picnics and evenings swimming in a pond. Another two children arrived, Muggleborn twins who were four years old and just showing signs of accidental magic, then another squib. The family knew who this child was because he had been heralded as the heir to the Parkinson family. Sage was a happy two-year-old, but had not passed the magic discovery examination that purebloods used to weed out the squibs before they became an embarrassment to the family. (Daphne was sure Pansy would be appalled and pleased to know that her brother was now harbored here.)

The Hogwarts letters were delivered to the post office by owl and picked up by the family. Helene and Dexter made ready to return to Diagon Alley to pick up the school books for the girls and the additional books for the other children. This trip would have normally included Daphne and Astoria, but this year only Thomas, the eleven-year-old boy who had gotten a Hogwarts letter, would be going with them so that he could get his wand. He would not be getting robes, only the wand and a broom, as well as his books. Helene had explained that she had done it for each of the children when they turned eleven, but they all had written a letter of regrets to Hogwarts so that they could be left alone and homeschooled.

The first of September rolled around and the Greengrass sisters were a bit depressed that they would not be joining the other returning students. They were missing their friends. The school year began with Professor Snape being declared Headmaster and Professor McGonagall remaining as Deputy. The papers were abuzz with the news that Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were missing and it had been reported that Ronald Weasley was quite ill. Her friends had mostly returned to school, but the letter she received from Tracy Davis said that Draco was missing Astoria. She surmised he was looking more ill than just pining after his love. She said that Muggleborns were now banned from attending Hogwarts so many Gryffindors were no longer in attendance.

They fell into a pattern of following the spurious news in the _Daily Prophet_ , the lack of fashion change and gossip in the _Witches' Weekly,_ and the strange tidbits published in the _Quibbler._ They, too, had stumbled across the _Potterwatch_ on the wireless radio. Fall brought a sighting of the Harry, Hermione and Ron at the Ministry of Magic followed by several false leads. Winter brought another sighting on Christmas Eve in Godric's Hallow. Mr. Olivander and Luna Lovegood were now among the missing whose names they recognized. Spring brought another supposed capture and escape from Malfoy Manor. Nobody really knew the real story except those who had been there and they weren't talking to the press. Tracy reported that the school had become a hell for even the Slytherin House members. Some were now discretely helping Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom keep the half-bloods safe. Then there was news on _Potterwatch_ that Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley were wanted for breaking into Gringotts and breaking out on a stolen dragon. The school year was coming to an end and the tension between the sides was growing and war was eminent. The press had used the statement by Scott Westerfeld, "A little drama wins more friends than boring," to discount the fact that even purebloods were beginning to see the Dark Lord and his followers through jaundiced eyes.

* * *

The second of May 1998 dawned gray and overcast. The world seamed so dreary. Elise and Daphne were going to the post office and store alone. Both girls were seventeen and had taken a trip to France where they took their apparation test and were now licensed. The children were kept at home, but these two were now adults and no longer having their magic tracked.

"Daphne, if anything seems out of the ordinary," Helene warned, "you and Elise are to apparate directly into the barn and take the underground path into the cellars. This will set off the alarms and the apparation points will all close. We have practiced this drill before."

"We will, Mother," Daphne responded. "I love you." She hugged and kissed her mother, then followed Elise, who had been getting the same lecture.

When they got to the village they set about filling their shopping lists, then went to check the April monthly lottery numbers to see if they had won. Both read the numbers and then checked their tickets. "OH! Oh! Oh!" was all Daphne could say.

"What?" Elise asked. "Have you won a weekly draw?"

"No, I don't think so," Daphne answered. "Check my numbers. I think it's the big one." She called out the numbers one-by-one and Elise checked the board. Then grabbed her with a hug. They immediately filled out the forms to claim the prize.

As they hurried home they heard the rumblings like great thunder and lightning. The ominous signs could not remove the ray of sunshine that winning the lottery had broken the dark cloud. The sky grew darker and darker and the day was almost as if it were night. "It has begun," was all Helene said as they entered the house through the kitchen door. The rest are in the cellars with the wireless. _Potterwatch_ announced that Harry Potter was spotted at Hogwarts. Reports are that all the Death Eaters are assembling there. Astoria received an owl from Draco which somehow broke our wards. That's why we are hiding in the cellars. We don't know how safe we will be, but we will fight if necessary."

"I know, Mother, and we will win," Daphne replied. The lottery winnings were forgotten.


End file.
